


wiped clean

by GrayvesAO3Account



Category: Half-Life but the AI is Self-Aware
Genre: Amnesia fic, Boomer(background), Frenreylatta - Freeform, I'm very new to AO3 sorry, M/M, Multi, Post-Canon, Sodashipping, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, amnesiac!Benrey, frenrey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:48:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28481178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrayvesAO3Account/pseuds/GrayvesAO3Account
Summary: Benrey is alive after the boss fight at Xen, thank god, but he isn't quite the same anymore...
Relationships: Benrey & Tommy Coolatta, Benrey & Tommy Coolatta & Gordon Freeman, Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Tommy Coolatta/Darnold, Tommy Coolatta/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 19
Kudos: 81





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Wooooo alrighty I'm doing it! This is one of my two New Year's Resolutions! I'm not super happy with this fic but a friend beta'd for me and said it was alright so. Yeah.

~Prologue~

Gordon was panting and sweating by the time Benrey collapsed, but he still ran over to scoop up the collapsed security guard in his arms. “Benrey? Benrey, are you okay? You better be okay! This better just be a prank or something!"

Benrey, however, showed no sign of waking up. Gordon felt for a pulse, fearful, but quickly relaxed as he felt a shallow, but present, heartbeat.

Then he wasn’t on the alien planet of Xen anymore. He was standing in… a train car? When he looked out the windows, however, all he could see in every direction was star-littered void. He heard someone clear his throat from behind him, and wheeled around, letting out an exasperated sigh at who he saw.

A tall, lanky, beanpole of a man in a formal suit, a briefcase in his hand. Gordon recognized him as the G-Man, an entity that he’d previously had multiple conversations with. He didn’t look too pleased, glancing at Benrey and then back up at Gordon. “You weren’t supposed to bring it with you, Dr. Freeman.”

Gordon felt anger well within him. “That’s he to you, asshole. And he has a name.” Gordon said, venom in his voice.

G-Man let out a sigh, still maintaining his upright posture. “I’m aware. Benrey, correct?” Gordon nodded and tried to speak, but he was cut off by the man. “My point still stands. He tried to kill you and your friends, Dr. Freeman. You saw what he was capable of. Why do you still care about him?”

“Yeah, well, everyone except Tommy had some weird scheme to kill me at some point! Also, if you couldn't tell, we were, and still are, pretty high stress about this whole situation, okay?” Gordon would've been broadly gesticulating if it weren't for the sleeping he/they in his arms.

"Yes, Dr. Freeman, I can definitely tell. Your standards are shockingly low, if that's your mentality."

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Gordon said, dismissively. “Is there a reason you brought me here?”

G-Man seemed to remember something. “Ah, yes. Ease of transportation, I suppose. I’m taking you to my son, Tommy’s birthday party at Chuck E Cheese’s.”

Gordon paused, incredulous. “You expect me to believe that Tommy is your son?” Gordon paused, examining G-Man more closely. “I mean… you do kinda look similar.”

“I can assure you that we are, most certainly, related, Dr. Freeman. Are you ready to go to the birthday party now?”

“No, not yet. Can you take me and Benrey to the hospital? I just wanna drop him off while I go to the birthday party.” Gordon said, shifting Benrey a little in his arms. It was hard to carry someone when one of your arms was a gun.

G-Man let out yet another sigh and checked a wristwatch. “We’re already pushing the schedule… is this really necessary, Dr. Freeman? Can we not just take him to the Chuck E Cheese?”

“No! He’s barely hanging on! He barely has a pulse! I have to get him to a hospital. Take me there or I’m not going to Tommy’s birthday party!”

G-Man scoffed. “Where exactly are you going to go, Dr. Freeman? You don’t have many options.”

Gordon suddenly became very aware of his surroundings, and very aware of the fact that he was, y’know, in the void. “Ah. Right. Uh… will you please take me to the hospital?”

“Fine. We will drop Benrey off at the hospital. If only to put you at ease." A portal appeared at G-Man's side. "After you, Doctor."

~Chapter 1~

Gordon really was trying his hardest to enjoy the birthday party. There was no good reason for him not to be having fun, after all. He survived! He made it out! That should be enough!

But his thoughts kept flickering back to Benrey. He and G-Man had left Benrey with several confused hospital workers, and he was sure the security guard was in good hands, but he still couldn't help but feel nervous.

Even after the party was over, as the fire department helped him cut off his HEV suit, and he got ready to go see his son, a sense of pervasive dread just wouldn't leave him alone.

But still, he put on a brave face and damn near cried when he got to see his son again. Joshua had apparently been staying with Gordon's brother, which was probably for the best.

After all that, though, Gordon went back to the hospital.

Waiting to get checked in as a visitor was almost agonizing, and once he got the okay, he Gordon Sprinted to the room, flinging open the door.

To his surprise, Tommy was already there. A lanky man, just like his father, but not nearly as menacing or serious. He was watching Benrey intently, not even noticing as Gordon entered.

The aura he radiated was one of concern, and Gordon could see why as his eyes flickered over to Benrey.

He was seemingly unconscious, dressed in a hospital gown, laying in a hospital bed. They'd removed his helmet, and a mess of pitch black hair was visible. How did he even keep all that hair in his helmet?

After taking in the scene, he finally spoke up, getting Tommy's attention. "How's he doing?"

Tommy looked up, startled, and quickly stammered out a reply. "The doctors said- they said he's comatose."

"Shit." Gordon practically hissed. "That's… really bad. He's gonna be here for a while, huh?"

Tommy nodded, grabbing a soda from a pile next to him and offering it to Gordon. "Do you want one, Mr. Freeman?"

Gordon sighed and took the can. "Thank you, Tommy." He sat down in a chair next to Tommy and took a sip of soda, still staring at Benrey. "So, I'm guessing your dad told you?"

Gordon could tell that Tommy nodded from out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah. He only- only really told me after the party, and then he- and then made a portal so I could get here as soon as I could. I've been here ever since." Tommy said, and took a sip of his own soda.

"Tommy… That's been hours." Gordon said, incredulous, taking his eyes off Benrey to look at Tommy. "I didn't know you cared that much about him."

Tommy didn't look at Gordon. "He's my best friend, Mr. Freeman. I wouldn't- wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something- if something bad happened and I wasn't there to stop it."

Gordon sighed and took another sip of his soda. "Right, I forgot you two were friends. Don't you have to take care of your dog, though?"

Tommy shook his head. "Sunkist is the perfect dog, Mr. Freeman. She can take care of herself. There's plenty of stuff in the house. I knew- I knew that my job was dangerous so I, well, I kinda made sure she would be okay for a while if anything happened to me. Also, she's immortal, Mr. Freeman."

"Ah, right, my bad." Gordon said, resigning himself to awkward silence for a bit, before speaking up once again. "Do you need food, or something?"

Tommy shook his head. "Soda is the only thing I need."

Gordon, disappointed at how fast that trail of conversation closed off to him, spoke again, "Where do you think Dr. Coomer and Bubby are?"

Tommy shrugged. "I don't know. Probably something like answering questions for, uh, for the police. About the incident."

Gordon groaned. "Right, yeah, we're probably gonna have to do that too at some point."

Tommy actually turned and looked at Gordon, and his expression was the most serious that he'd ever seen from him. "If they want me to leave, they'll have to drag me away." He said, dead serious, then turned back to Benrey. "And I wish them- wish them luck with that."

Gordon tried to process what just happened for a moment, and tried to move on, but he felt stuck. Like he was out of things to say.

Then the door opened, revealing a nurse that Gordon had never seen before, and Gordon let out a sigh of relief. That was, unt the nursery started speaking.

"Visiting hours for non-family members are over now. You'll both have to leave." They said, very calmly.

Gordon started speaking. "Yeah, sure, of course-"

"No, I'm uh, not going to leave.", Tommy said, abruptly.

The nurse let out a sigh. "Are you family?"

"Yes." Tommy said, voice wavering, obviously lying.

"Mhm, sure, whatever." The nurse said, apparently deciding not to fight over this. "You can stay."

Tommy nodded, still not even looking over at them, taking a sip of his soda.

The nurse looked over at Gordon. "You, though, you will have to leave."

"Yeah, like I already said, I'm fine with that." Gordon said, standing up. It was harder than expecting considering he was also hiding the fact that he had a gun for a hand. It would've been pretty hard to explain that one.

But yeah, Gordon left. Went home to his, now incredibly lonely, apartment. Joshua was still going to stay with his brother while Gordon got his act together and figured out how to function on a day-to-day basis with a gun for an arm. Maybe he could get it removed and get a prosthetic? But that felt so far out of reach…

He ended up grabbing a Gatorade and walking over to the TV, flipping on Netflix and browsing until he found a show that looked vaguely interesting.

It ended up being incredibly boring, but hey, it was background noise and kept Gordon from slipping into worried thoughts about Benrey.

But, eventually, as episodes passed, Gordon felt himself drifting off to sleep. He tried to fight it for a while, but he eventually gave in and succumbed to sleep.

~Chapter 1.5~

Meanwhile, as Gordon slept soundly, Tommy was wide awake, sipping his soda and staring at Benrey's comatose form.

As he sat there, memories of times he and Benrey shared ran through his mind. 

Playing video games(Benrey always won), going to their favorite pizza place(Tommy always paid, his salary was better than Benrey's), and playing with Sunkist(well, Tommy played with Sunkist. Benrey sat off to the side and occasionally yelled some inane comment that barely meant anything.)

Tommy felt himself tearing up as he started remembering, but he fought back his tears. He had to have his act together when Benrey woke up, he had to be composed… right, he probably looked like a mess right now.

Tommy got up, walked into the bathroom, and looked himself in the mirror, and… yeah, he looked worse than he expected. 

He splashed some water on his face, fixed his hair, and smoothed his clothes to the best of his ability. He still looked a bit like a garbage fire, and the bags under his eyes were hard to miss, but he looked a bit better.

As he left the bathroom and returned to Benrey's room, he froze. Sitting up in bed sat Benrey, wide awake, looking very confused. The characteristic shadows over his eyes were gone for once.

Tommy nearly started crying. He ran over to Benrey and threw his arms around him, and felt Benrey return the hug, giving a light pat on the back.

Tommy pulled away from the hug, now openly crying. "I was so- so scared that you weren't going to- to make it! Don't scare me like that!"

Benrey gave a smile, but it was less of his characteristic grin and more of a smile of courtesy. His eyes scanned Tommy's face, showing no sign of recognition.

"Benrey, are you okay?" Tommy asked, his expression turning to one of concern.

"Yeah, I'm chill, I'm fine. Feel great." Benrey said in his weird monotone rambly way. His face betrayed his utter confusion, though.

Tommy gave him a skeptical look. "Are you sure?"

Surprisingly, Benrey cracked almost immediately. "No, I'm not sure. Who are you? Where am I?"

Tommy felt his stomach drop as he realized that Benrey was being serious for once.


	2. Waking Up, Kinda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon gets a phone call, Tommy asks for help, and the Boomers are dating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably my least favorite chapter. No particular reason I just dislike it.

Gordon was already awake. He'd woken up at some point from a nightmare- his hand getting cut off- and decided to make himself coffee, looking at the news feed from when he was in Black Mesa, trying to catch up on everything.

When his phone started ringing, he nearly dropped it, but managed to catch it. When he saw that it was Tommy, he answered immediately. "Tommy? What's happening?"

"I'm ve- very sorry if I woke you Mr. Freeman, I'm just panicking and every- everything is going wrong and-" Tommy started talking at a mile a minute.

"Woah, okay, calm down for a minute, okay? What happened? Is Benrey okay?" Gordon said, sitting down at his kitchen table and nervously bouncing his leg.

Gordon heard Tommy taking a deep breath over the phone. "Okay. So the good news is that he's awake."

Gordon shot to his feet almost immediately. "Already? Is he okay? I-I'll grab my keys and be there as soon as possible-"

"Mr- Mr. Freeman, I think it's your- your turn to calm down." Tommy said, a pleading edge in his voice.

Gordon forced himself to breathe for a moment. "Okay, yeah, I'm sorry. Is there bad news?"

Gordon could almost hear Tommy tensing up over the phone. "He's… forgotten everything, Mr. Freeman."

Gordon paused for a moment to process this. "What do you mean 'everything'?"

"I mean, he doesn't remember any of his past. He has no memories."

Gordon was silent for another moment. "I'll… I'll be there in 10."

Before Tommy could respond, Gordon hung up, threw on a jacket and shoes, grabbed his keys, and set out into warm New Mexico early-morning.

-

Tommy frowned at Gordon abruptly hanging up, but knew that was probably going to happen. Mr. Freeman had always been a bit impulsive and abrasive.

He'd already called Dr. Coomer. Turns out both him and Bubby were both being held in police custody. Coomer had promised that they would "be right over", though.

Tommy was confident that they could handle themselves. He would lend a helping hand if things got really bad, but he hoped it wouldn't get to that point.

He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. He'd been kicked out of Benrey's room when the nurses arrived and started performing tests. Making sure he was okay.

Tommy was, needless to say, incredibly worried. That was his best friend, and he suddenly just forgot all the memories they'd had together…

Tommy forced himself to unlatch from that train of thought. There was no point in falling into despair, after all.

He made a plan there, standing in that quiet corridor. He would try everything he could to get Benrey's memories back. Take him to all his favorite places, have him play all his favorite games, and see if anything worked.

And if it didn't… well, Tommy guessed he'd just have to start over on their friendship. It had taken months for Tommy to get Benrey to trust him previously, and Tommy was willing to go through all that again to get his friend back.

He was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts at a loud crash coming from outside. He looked out of the window in front of him, across the hallway from him.

He couldn't help but laugh at what he saw. Bubby and Coomer sure knew how to make an entrance in style. 

Meaning: They'd wrecked a car(probably stolen) into a hospital bush.

Tommy looked around for any pursuing police officers, and wasn't surprised to see that there were several roughly a block away.

He let out a sigh. He guessed he would have to interfere. Just once couldn't hurt, right?

He tried desperately to remember how he used his powers. It'd been so long since he'd used them last, after all.

Right, you just focus, and move your hands like that…

"Need some help, son?"

Tommy was startled out of his focus by the sudden presence of his dad behind him. "Dad?"

"I came to check on the state of the… of Benrey. However, it appears your friends could use some, assistance, hm?" G-Man peered out the window at the cop cars, which had… stopped? Tommy supposed that his dad had used his stasis powers.

"Yeah. You'd really help them?" Tommy asked, skeptical. He knew his dad only tolerated the science team because they were his friends.

"Of course. For a price."

Tommy groaned and rolled his eyes. "What is it with you and deals?"

"You let me talk to Benrey, alone, and I'll solve this little... problem... for you." G-Man said, clasping his finger in front of him.

Tommy hesitated. "You aren't going to hurt him, right?" When G-Man didn't answer, he repeated himself. "Right?"

G-Man still didn't answer, instead turning around to look at the room where Benrey was being kept. "I can't make any promises. If he behaves, then no. I won't hurt him."

Tommy didn't answer for a moment, thinking. If he was being honest with himself, he had no clue if his powers would even work here. He also had no way of knowing if his father would hurt Benrey.

Eventually, he simply let out a sigh. "Fine. I accept."

Instantly, time started again, leaving Tommy feeling a little disoriented. He shook it off and looked out the window and, sure enough, the cop cars were all gone, Coomer was helping Bubby out of the car, and they were making their way towards the hospital doors.

Tommy turned around to thank his father, but he was already gone. Tommy saw the door of Benrey's hospital room close and assumed that G-Man had gone inside to "talk" to Benrey. Whatever that meant.

Tommy swallowed his fear and started heading towards the elevator. Might as well meet the older doctors in the lobby. Not to even mention the fact that Gordon should be arriving soon.

He took a deep breath and moved forward. He had to pull himself together for now.

-

Gordon Freeman sat in his car in the hospital parking lot, trying to calm himself down and take deep breaths, when a loud crash came from across the parking lot.

He looked up to see a car crash into a bush. He looked behind the cat and saw several police cars in hot pursuit.

Then, suddenly, the cars disappeared.

Gordon blinked a few times, but decided that just sitting around wouldn't do him any good. He shoved his gun arm in his pocket and got out of the car, walking towards the car that had crashed into the shrubbery.

He wished he was more surprised when Dr. Coomer left the driver's seat, moving around to the passenger's seat and opening a door for Bubby, who immediately started complaining and saying that they didn't need the door opened for him. They were definitely blushing, though.

Coomer noticed Gordon first. "Ah, hello, Gordon!" He waved and started walking over. "I assume Tommy called you as well?"

"Of course Tommy called him." Bubby said, scoffing. "If Tommy called us, he definitely called this pissbaby."

Gordon let out a deep sigh. "Glad to see that police custody hasn't changed either of you."

"Hello Gor- No! It definitely has!" Dr. Coomer said, before reaching over and grabbing Bubby's hand. "Gordon, we're dating!"

Gordon needed a moment to process this. It was way too early for this many things to be happening.

Luckily, Bubby was there to break the silence. "It's about damn time, too, if you ask me."

Gordon finally thought of something to say. "That's… great! I'm happy for you guys!"

Coomer gave a wide smile. "Thank you, Gordon! Love is beautiful!"

"It sure is." Gordon sighed. He didn't want to talk about love. He wanted to talk about anything else but love, really. Like how Benrey just woke up from a coma and apparently had amnesia. "Anyways, should we head inside!"

"Yes, I believe we should! Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" Coomer said, and started marching off to the hospital, dragging Bubby along with him.

Gordon smiled as he followed behind them. Seeing them together felt right. Bubby was right, he thought, it was about time.

Tommy was already waiting for them in the lobby. "Hello Mr. Freeman! Hello Dr. Coomer and Bubby!"

"Save it, kid. Where's Benrey?" Bubby said, cutting off Coomer as he was about to issue one of his patented greetings.

"He's on- on a higher floor. I'll take you guys there!" Tommy said, and started leading them there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, the Tumblr is Grayveshlvraiblog! Yell at me over there OR in the comment section!


	3. Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Science Team talk, Tommy goes to deal with a pet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last of the chapters for today! Woo!

By the time they got to the room, G-Man had already left. Tommy supposed he was grateful for that. His dad got quite awkward in situations with a lot of people.

The medical staff had also left, apparently, because Benrey was alone in his room.

He looked quite confused as a sudden influx of people appeared. "Oh, yo, who're these people?" He looked specifically at Bubby and Coomer. "These my fucking… uh… parents or some shit?"

Bubby scoffed. "You fucking wish."

Coomer patted Bubby's arm. "Now, now. We could very easily adopt him! Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions-" 

As Coomer continued his- presumably Wikipedia-related- ramblings, Gordon and Tommy walked up to the bed.

"Those, uh… boomers sure are weird. Who're you, though?" Benrey said, addressing that last question at Gordon. "Boyfriend, maybe? You're kinda cute. In a Dilf sort of way."

Gordon felt his face go red in spite of himself, and he removed his gun hand from his pocket to facepalm with it. "I- no, I'm not your boyfriend. I... barely know you, actually. I don't even know why I'm here."

Benrey stared at the gun hand for a moment in shock. "Yo, what happened to your hand?"

Gordon was about to strangle Benrey, but then he remembered that the security guard genuinely didn't remember. "It… got amputated. And now it's a gun."

Benrey nodded, still staring at the gun. "Huh. Weird. It's kinda cool, though." He turned to Tommy next. "And we… we're friends, right? I think you said something about that?"

Tommy nodded. "Yeah, we are- well, were- best friends."

Benrey let out a whistle. "Besties, huh? That's… I'm sorry." He slumped.

Tommy looked confused. "Why are you sorry?"

"Because, I… I'm not that… wait, what's my name again?"

"Benrey."

"That's a stupid name. You're kidding, right?"

Tommy shook his head. "No. That's the name you gave everyone, at least. Put it on your job applications and everything."

Benrey raised an eyebrow. "I have a job?"

Gordon found himself butting in. "Well, you had a job. We all had a job at the same place. The place is… gone, now. The same incident that put you in a coma basically destroyed the place."

"Yeah, about that, what DID put me in that coma?"

Gordon and Tommy glanced at each other, unsure of how to proceed. Luckily,(or maybe unluckily,) Dr. Coomer was done with his adoption wikipedia article reading.

"Well, you see, a big experiment failed and opened a portal to an alien dimension! Then the United States military stepped in, we killed them, and then we went to an alien dimension and… well, we fought you!" Coomer stated, a big smile on his face.

Benrey considered this for a moment, drumming his fingers on the palm of his other hand for a moment. "Sounds like a weird video game. And you said I was the big bad?"

Coomer nodded. "Indeed you were! You got quite big!"

"Huh. Did I hurt anyone?" Benrey looked at Tommy this time, a genuine look of concern on his face.

Tommy stammered for a moment, thinking of how best to phrase this.

Gordon took the question, though. "We all hurt a lot of people. Military, mostly-"

"Fuck boot boys. Did I hurt anyone important?" Benrey said, cutting Gordon off.

"I mean, I was getting to that. See this?" Gordon lifted up his gun arm. "This is at least partially your fault."

Benrey sucked in a breath through his teeth and averted his eyes, pausing for a moment before muttering, "'M real sorry about that.

Gordon stood in shocked silence for a moment. He wasn't actually expecting an apology. "I… I don't forgive you, but I accept your apology."

Benrey gave a wavering grin as he looked back up at Gordon, and Gordon was actually taken aback by how flat Benrey's teeth were. He'd grown used to the sharp, shark-like teeth that Benrey had shown during the entirety of the Black Mesa incident.

Tommy also seemed surprised by the teeth. "Wait, are your teeth- are they normal?"

"Huh?" Benrey said, confused, before baring his teeth, showing just how normal they were. "I dunno. You tell me."

"Come to think of- of it, your eyes are normal too!" Tommy said, examining Benrey's eyes.

"And that's… not normal for me?" Benrey asked, very confused.

"No, definitely not!" Coomer butted in. "Back in Black Mesa, you were quite the picture of an alien!"

Benrey raised his eyebrows. "Me? An Alien? Like in fucking uh… Doom or some shit?'

"I mean, in my- my opinion, you always looked more like a vampire!" Tommy stated.

As the others dug themselves deeper into this rabbit hole, Gordon took a moment to try to retrace the conversation and figure out what they were originally talking about. He was failing, miserably so.

"When do you think you'll be able to go home?" Tommy asked. "You have a cat after- Oh fuck, Hi-C!"

Gordon was briefly pulled out of his thoughts by Tommy cursing, then was even more puzzled by what came out his mouth next. "What, like the fruit punch?"

"No! Well, yes, she's named after the fruit punch, but she's a cat! Benrey's cat! Tommy patted down his lab coat and pulled out some keys. "I have Benrey's apartment key. I'll run over there and grab Hi-C, maybe drop her off with Sunkist!"

Benrey was silent, and as Gordon looked over, he saw that Benrey's eyes were wide, an awed expression on his face. "I… have a cat? I unlocked an animal companion?"

Tommy nodded. "Yes! And unless one of your games friends has been taking care of her, she's probably in pretty bad shape!"

"I have FRIENDS?" Benrey stated again, his eyes widening even further.

Gordon couldn't help but laugh at Benrey's, seemingly earnest, reactions to learning about himself.

Benrey turned to Gordon, now sporting a mildly offended facial expression, their tone of voice a bit more heated than usual. "Oh? Is the little chicken hat laughing at me? Let me be happy about this. I bet you have no friends. Little lame-o science boy."

Tommy laughed at Gordon's angry expression as he left the hospital room, leaving Bubby and Coomer to bear witness to their bickering.

Tommy walked away from the sounds of angry dad lecturing towards the elevator and out of the hospital.

The Benrey in that hospital bed might not have had all of his memories, and he might not have been physically identical to the Benrey that Tommy once knew, but personality-wise, it was the same old Benrey. Confrontational and impulsive.

Tommy drove over to Benrey's apartment and let himself in. He turned on the light and carefully ventured over the familiar trash heap that was Benrey's apartment.

He knew he was here for the cat, but he couldn't help himself. He started picking up laundry that was probably dirty and put it in the actual designated bin, frowning at the fact that it was definitely overflowing.

He almost didn't notice as a familiar, quiet 'meow' came from behind him. He turned around and beheld one of the fluffiest cats he'd ever seen.

He beamed as he scooped up Hi-C, cradling her before she could resist. "Aw, look at you! You still look just fine! Are you hungry, girl?" Tommy asked.

The cat simply looked at Tommy and mlemed, before looking over to the kitchen.

Tommy moved over there, still cradling Hi-C, when he discovered the pantry door cracked open. He opened the door with a foot, only to see that the bag of cat food had been torn open and that the majority of it was eaten.

"Oh! Good to see that you're learning to be self-reliant!" Tommy praised the cat, although he was internally screaming at the mess of loose dry cat food on the floor.

Tommy put the cat down and checked how much food was gone. Most of it, honestly, but not all of it. It seemed like, despite everything, Hi-C had taken care of herself.

He stole a chip clip from a family sized bag of Doritos and used it to seal up the cat food bag, setting it down on the counter. He'd take it over to his apartment along with Hi-C.

Speaking of taking Hi-C, Tommy opened up a drawer, grabbing a bag of treats, before moving over to the kennel that they used to move Hi-C around.

Tommy shook the bag once, and Hi-C came running, just as planned. He held it inside the kennel, and Hi-C ran in, sniffing at it.

Then, Tommy's blue eyes briefly glowed as he froze time for a split second, removing his hand from the cage and closing the door, sliding the bolt. Then time resumed, and Tommy fell backwards, landing on his tailbone unceremoniously.

Hi-C looked absolutely outraged, meowing up a storm, but Tommy didn't care. He tried not to use his powers very much. But, when he did, it was normally for inane things like this.

This combined with the stunt he attempted to put earlier made him feel tired. He'd have to grab a soda when he got home.

Yeah, right, going home! Tommy grabbed the bag of cat food off the counter and carefully lifted the kennel, turning the lights off and locking the door as he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, my Tumblr is Grayveshlvraiblog. Remember to leave kudos if you liked, and comment why if you didn't like. Or comment why you did like! Or comment and tell me my hc that Benrey a) has a cat and b) the cat is named Hi-C is stupid! It's your life, I probably won't stop you.


	4. A Gay Little Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Benrey and Gordon have a talk. An important question is asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so like. I was gonna post this exactly a week from the last few chapters. Have a consistent update schedule or whatever. But see ,the thing is, I crave nice compliments. I eat them, like food, and I'm very hungry rn. Also I can't write the next chapter until the poll is resolved. What poll? Ohohohoho just wait.

Coomer and Bubby had both left the hospital room at some point, off to "sort their shit out" as Bubby so elegantly put it, leaving Gordon alone in the hospital room with Benrey.

Gordon had long since properly introduced himself, and denied that he and Benrey were dating no fewer than 3 times. (Benrey seemed disappointed each time, but he was probably just fucking with Gordon, right?)

So now Gordon was just kinda answering questions about himself for the (ex?-)security guard.

"X-Box or Playstation?"

"Actually, I'm more of a PC gamer."

Benrey shook his head. "That wasn't the question. X-Box. Or. Playstation? Please answer it? Please and thank you?"

Gordon tried to respond but Benrey kept going. "Little shifty boy, dodging the question. What do you have to hide, huh? Huh?"

Gordon started laughing in spite of himself. "I- fuck dude, I guess I had an X-Box for a while as a kid."

Benrey made a face that can only be described as the Pensive Discord emoji and leaned back in his hospital bed, sighing. "Can't believe I thought you were boyfriend material. You're on the wrong side of the console war. T'was never meant to be!" Benrey said this last line melodramatically, putting the back of his hand to his forehead.

Gordon felt his face flush a little, but he laughed it off and kept going. "Any other questions?"

"Yeah, actually. You single?"

Gordon stammered for a moment. That was not a question he was planning on receiving from Benrey of all people. "Uh, yeah, I'm single. Divorced, actually." He let out a nervous chuckle.

Benrey raised an eyebrow. "Oh shit, really? Gordon Divorceman? Next thing you know you're gonna start telling me that you're like… a dad or something."

"Yeah, I am actually."

Benrey's second eyebrow shot up to meet the first and essentially pogged. "Holy shit! Gordon Dilfman real?"

Gordon scoffed, but he was blushing slightly. He tried not to let any of what Benrey was saying get to him. It was probably just Benrey fucking with him. Right?

"Anyways, that's all my questions. Got any for me?"

"Yeah, actually. What did you do before we got here?" Gordon asked.

Benrey kicked his legs a little in his bed. "Well there were doctors. And they had a lot of questions and they did a lot of tests. Then they were just… gone and there was this guy in a suit. He kept asking me these questions about teleportation and regeneration and… something he called 'sweet voice'? It was all Greek to me."

Gordon couldn't help the grimace that came across his face at the mention of the G-Man. "Yeah, that… I'm pretty sure that was Tommy's dad."

Benrey blinked and appeared to be doing mental math. "That… whuh?" After a moment, he seemed to catch up. "I mean… I guess they do kinda look similar?"

"Yeah, and that's where the similarities end." Gordon let out a sigh.

"They both seem pretty interested in me. For like, opposite reasons." Benrey said, staring at his hands as he flexed them a few times.

"What do you think their reasons are, exactly?" Gordon asked. "G-Man's reasons have always seemed… mysterious to me."

"Is that the suit guy's name?" Gordon nodded, and Benrey continued. "Yeah, well, G-Man seemed like he was… evaluating a threat. Gathering intel. Tommy seems like he just wants to be my friend again."

"Huh, okay. Here's another question: do you remember anything at all from before you woke up?"

"Uh, yeah. Had this real fucked up dream. Wanna hear about it?"

Gordon nodded furiously, pulling out his phone and turning on a recorder app.

Benrey stared at the phone for a moment. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"My memory is awful, and this might be important. Gotta solve, like, the deep mystery here." Gordon said, setting the phone face up on the bedside table.

"Huh, alright man. Well, I was in this place, and the sky was a real fucked up color, and there were all these islands, but they were like, floating or some shit.

"I wasn't standing on one of the islands, though? I was just hovering mid-air next to this fucking… skeleton.

"And the skeleton, it fucking- it started saying stuff to me. About a final boss fight that it lost or something. About his QPP. About punishment, and breaking rules, and all this other shit.

"About how he didn't want to go back.

"Anyways after that I woke up here and then Tommy showed up and… well, you know what happened."

Benrey looked up after his little monologue. "'S that enough?"

Gordon sat, speechless for a moment.

"Yo, Feetman, you doing alright?"

Gordon was pulled out of his thoughts. "What the fuck did you just call me?"

Benrey grinned. "You like it? Little nickname I just came up with~"

Gordon let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, okay dude. Anyways, I don't know how to unpack all that shit."

"What, did that fever dream mean something to you?"

"I mean, some of it did, I guess. What's a QPP?"

"Queer-Platonic Partner. It ain't romantic, it ain't platonic, it's another type of relationship entirely." Benrey said, seemingly on autopilot.

"Huh. Alright, that's… pog, as the kids say." Gordon said, ignoring the look he got from Benrey. "Anyways, that place… it's where we fought you."

"Ah… shit. Do skeletons mean anything to you?"

"... Yeah, you had a lot of skeletons as your minions."

"Ah… so one of my 'minions' fucking… kidnapped me and incoherently rambled at me for like an hour about seemingly nothing?"

"... Wait, an hour? The skeleton talked to you for like an hour?"

"Talked AT me, yeah. It was an hour at least. At some point I tuned out and started looking around. Real fucked up place, not sure if I said that."

"I'm pretty sure you have, yeah." Gordon said, smiling a little in spite of himself. Doing things in spite of himself sure seemed to be a theme when he was around Benrey.

"Well, that's because it's true." Benrey said, now ruffling his own hair.

Speaking of his hair… "How the hell did you hide all that hair from me for so long?" Gordon said, abruptly, before he could stop himself.

Benrey stopped and looked at Gordon. "Uhh, I don't know. Did I wear a hat or something? Said I was a security guard, right? Helmet?"

"Yeah, it was a helmet. Not a big one, either. Yet I never saw any hair at all."

Benrey shrugged. "I don't know, man. Alien bullshit. Hacks. Cheat codes. I have no clue. Anyways, wanna touch it?" Benrey said, leaning over out of bed, directing his hair towards Gordon. "'S real soft."

Gordon hesitates for a moment before reaching out and touching Benrey's hair. Sure enough, It was really soft. Gordon couldn't help but run his fingers through it for a while.

"Okay, yeah, that's enough." Benrey looked back up, and Gordon's hands basically ended up on Benrey's cheeks, and oh fuck they were really close.

Benrey seemed to notice this and smiled, seemingly blushing a little?. "Yo, are we about to ki-"

The door was abruptly opened and there stood Tommy, humming slightly and carrying two sodas and a juice box in his arms.

He froze when he saw the sight in front of him. "Uh… um…" He blinked a few times. "Should I leave? Am I interrupting something?"

Gordon was short-circuiting, so Benrey responded. "Not at all~ Just dudes being bros!" He said this while Gordon's hands were still on his cheeks.

"Ah- right, okay! I-I brought you both drinks!" Tommy offered a soda to Gordon and the juice box to Benrey.

Benrey pulled away from Gordon to grab the juice. "Oh shit, nice. It's apple juice!"

Tommy giggled. "The coolest flavor- a really cool flavor of juice, right?"

Benrey nodded. "Hell yeah! Fuck, dude, we really were best friends!"

Gordon, meanwhile, took the soda, still a little dazed. He cracked it open and took a sip.

"Hi-C is doing alright! She's hanging out with Sunkist! They always get along, I'm not too worried."

"Oh, nice." Benrey took a sip of his apple juice. "I hope Hi-C still likes me. Can cats tell if you have amnesia?"

Tommy paused, thinking. "That… is a fascinating question." He took a sip of his soda. "I guess we'll just have to find out when you- whenever you get to see her again!"

Tommy went to take another sip, but almost spit it out as he apparently remembered something. "Oh, yeah, right! I checked with the front desk about when you can- when you're allowed to leave, and apparently you can leave whenever you want? I think my dad did something. You also don't have to- don't gotta pay at all!

"All this to say, I need to know who you want to stay with. Me or Gordon. I already asked Doctor- the Coomers, and they said that they're basically homeless right now, so it's either me or Gordon." He looked over at Gordon. "That is, of course, if you're okay with Benrey staying at your place, Mr. Freeman!"

Gordon felt as though time itself froze in that moment. He could tell that whatever he said next, it would make an impact.

There were really only 3 ways he could respond here, he thought. He could confirm that Benrey could stay at his house, say that Benrey couldn't stay at his house, or question why Benrey couldn't live on his own.

Right, yeah, he would need some time to think this over.

And some help to sort it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is like the 3rd version of this fucking poll. I keep losing the link. Anyways vote!! I'm gonna be counting votes until like 24 hours from this upload OR until an option gets 30 votes. My beta reader already voted.  
> Anyways here's the link yeet:https://www.strawpoll.me/42384891/r  
> Now, see, when I write, I normally have a specific medium that isn't normal writing in mind. This is a visual novel. Thus far, Gordon and Tommy (they're the only characters that get POV rights for the time being) have been making decisions for themselves. But now, you get to choose for Gordon! Have fun!
> 
> (Psst, hey, also leave nice comments. They give me motivation to keep writing. Thank you!)


	5. Omg they were roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are gay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAA I'm so sorry it took me so long to post this I just had bad writer's block and also I have several other ideas! What ideas, you may ask? Well, that's what the end notes are for-

"Mr. Freeman?" Tommy asked, waving a hand in front of Gordon's face.

Gordon had been silent for a good while, thinking. It was fair, Tommy thought. There were a lot of factors to consider, after all.

Gordon snapped back to attention. "Hm? Uh, yeah, he can stay with me, if he wants."

Tommy turned back to Benrey. "Alright, then, who do you want to stay with?"

"Uh, I think I'll stay with Gordos." Benrey said, taking another sip of his apple juice. "Help him out now that he's only got one arm, Y'know?"

Tommy nodded, trying to hide the grin creeping onto his face. It was good to see that Benrey's crush had remained even after he lost all his memories. 

"Well, it's great that that's settled, then! Mr. Freeman, me and Benrey are gonna go grab some things from his apartment and his cat and then head over to your place. Does that sound alright?" 

Gordon nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. I'll head over there and set things up." He still seemed a little out of it.

"Alright, drive safely!" Tommy called out as Gordon left, before turning back to Benrey. "It's good to see that even amnesia can't change some things!" He didn't even try to hide his grin now that Gordon was gone.

Benrey made direct eye contact. "Not a clue what you're talking about." He said, deadpan, but Tommy had known him long enough to tell that he was panicking.

"Oh, y'know, a crush- a big ole crush on one Gordon Freeman for starters~" Tommy said, grinning.

Benrey started blushing. "I- look- okay? You can't tell me you don't also have a crush on that man! His arms look like they were designed for holding! And giving hugs!"

"I can't- I'm not going to confirm or deny my own infatuation with Mr. Freeman. I can say that you're definitely right about that, though. I never said that your crush wasn't justified, though."

Benrey blinked a few times. "Bro, I was joking about you having a crush on Dilfman, but now I'm like… actually curious."

"Well, too bad, I'm not gonna talk about it!" Tommy said as he tossed Benrey some clothes. A T-shirt, a zip-up hoodie, sweatpants, sandals, and a blue chullo with the PlayStation logo on it. "I brought you some of your clothes! Go change in the bathroom real quick!"

Benrey sighed and dragged himself out of his hospital bed, almost falling as he did so. Tommy rushed to catch him and succeeded, supporting him by his armpits. "Okay, right, I forgot you haven't walked- haven't gotten the chance to walk since you woke up. Do you remember how to walk?"

Benrey scoffed. "Of course I know how to walk. I'm not a baby. You can, uh, let go now, I think."

"Okay!" Tommy let go of Benrey and he didn't immediately fall over, which he considered a victory. Benrey walked as well as he could, considering how out of practice he was at it, to the bathroom and closed the door, leaving Tommy alone for a moment.

Back in Black Mesa, he'd tried not to think too hard about his crush of Gordon. It was apparent that Benrey also liked him, and Tommy didn't want to steal his thunder. Also, things were incredibly high stress and he didn't really have time to think about it.

But now, for better or for worse, he did have time to think about it.

And oh fuck. Oh good fuck was it complicated.

There was no way of telling if Gordon was poly. Without asking, anyways, which Tommy hadn't done yet. If Gordon wasn't, in fact, polyamorous, he and his best friend would be left competing over Mr. Freeman. Which was, needless to say, not the ideal scenario.

He would definitely let Benrey have Mr. Freeman in that scenario, though. At least, he thought he would.

He didn't have any more time to think about that hypothetical, though, because Benrey emerged from the bathroom, now fully dressed. "You're lucky I remember how to, like, wear clothes and shit. That would've been really awkward if I didn't."

Tommy stood up. "You're ri- you're definitely right, but I trusted that you would've asked if you needed help."

"Me? Ask for help? Really?" Benrey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"... Yeah, you're right. That definitely could've been really bad. Anyways, you ready to go?"

"Oh, definitely. Gotta see what kinda ride my bud Tommy has."

Tommy grinned. "Great, let's g- let's get out of here!"

-

Gordon was panicking. Why had he said yes?

Well, he knew why. It felt right.

No, that wasn't why he was panicking. He was panicking about what had come before that.

What was Benrey about to say when Tommy walked in? It was a question, he thought.

'Bro, are we about to k-'

That was all Gordon had heard. What could that next word have been? Kill? Collect? Kiss?

Gordon considered that for a moment. Kiss. It certainly seemed like the sort of thing that Benrey would say, as a dumb joke.

He resolved, in that moment, that if Benrey tried to pull that sort of thing again, he'd actually do it. That should teach him a lesson.

Yeah, for sure. He thought as he inflated the air mattress. He sure as hell wasn't going to make Benrey sleep on the couch, but his own bed and his son's race car bed also weren't an option.

After he was done with that, he rounded up some pillows and blankets and unceremoniously dumped them onto the air mattress. Benrey could figure it out when he arrived.

Speak of the devil, there was a knock at the door. Gordon, suspecting he already knew who it was, went to open it.

Benrey and Tommy had entirely different vibes, which showed best when they stood next to each other. Tommy's vibes were immaculate and Benrey's vibes were rancid. It somehow balanced out, though, and that was probably why they were friends.

"Hi, Mr. Freeman!" Tony exclaimed, waving with one hand and carrying a pet carrying case in the other.

"Hey Dadman. Ready for our super epic indefinite sleepover?" Benrey said, shit-eating grin on his face.

Gordon put on the best smile he could, not bothering to let it go to his eyes. "You know it, buddy."

Tommy cleared his throat. "Uh, well, Mr. Freeman, do you have a place where I could maybe lie down? I've been awake for over 24- over a day straight and I could really use a nap!"

Gordon stepped to the side to let Tommy and Benrey in. "Yeah, of course, Tommy! You can use my bed."

Tommy gave a tired smile and a nod and walked off, heading directly to Gordon's room despite not receiving directions. Huh, okay, sure, that might as well happen.

Gordon turned back to find Benrey staring up at him. He flinched and cussed, but Benrey didn't move. "Bro, you want some-"

"Gordon… Crushman? Gordon has a crush on my good pal Tommy? They're gonna sleep together?" Benrey cut Gordon off, putting his chin in his hands and leaning forward like a teenage girl sharing gossip.

Gordon, sputtered for a moment, not expecting that at all. "I- what?" He got out, nervously chuckling. "I- me?" He asked, pointing at himself.

Benrey nodded. "You got a crush on Tommy, dude?"

Gordon sucked in a breath through his teeth and thought for a moment. "I… I mean… are you gonna snitch on me?"

Benrey looked offended, but knowing him it was probably fake. "Who, me? Snitch on my good buddy Gordos? Never!"

Gordon let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, fine, I've got a crush on Tommy, okay? What do you want from me?"

Benrey kept a smile on his face, but Gordon could tell that something about his vibe had changed. "Oh, that's- that's really poggers, dude! Yeah!"

Gordon quirked an eyebrow. "You okay, dude? Need some food?"

Benrey shook off… whatever had gotten ahold of him for the moment and nodded. "Uh, yeah! What's the Loverboy got in his fridge?"

Gordon sputtered and blushed once more. "Dude! Don't call me that!"

Benrey let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fine. What's Gordos got in his fridge?"

Gordon walked to the kitchen, Benrey trailing at his heels. "That's a good question. What DO I have in my-" Gordon opened the fridge and immediately closed it, stumbling backwards away from it at the putrid smell that emanated from it.

Benrey pinched his nose. "Bro, what the fuck are you keeping in there?"

Gordon coughed for a moment before recovering. "Jeez, whatever it was, it spoiled really quickly. Let's check the pantry."

As soon as Gordon opened the pantry, Benrey was standing there, searching. "Bro, you got chips in here? Doritos maybe?"

As all of Gordon's doritos- as well as his tortilla chips- got stolen, he realized just how hard having Benrey as a roommate would really be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could really go for some tortilla chips rn. Anyways, the things, the ideas, yeah, right. Okay so like- my friend made this dumb joke about "Disney-Pixar's HLVRAI" And I took it too far and made it into a whole au. So! I'm doing an askblog as a sort of worldbuilding piece/prologue! As of posting this chapter, you can go to dphlvrai on Tumblr and ask Josh some questions!

**Author's Note:**

> This is uh. This is gonna get *long* by the way. Gonna post the first 3 chapters all at once like a Webtoon Comic, just gimme a moment. Also this is gonna get incredibly poly so if you don't like any of the ships tagged, don't read.  
> Oh yeah also my Tumblr is @ grayveshlvraiblog if you wanna yell at me and the fic comment section isn't good enough for you.


End file.
